Damon & Naomi
Song To The Siren

LA RECENSIONE

“The record that saved my life”
Perhaps I haven't yet told you about the time when, having embarked for the new continent, I ran into a violent storm, which left me as the only surviving castaway of the Ocean Liner. A few days at the mercy of the waves and finally an island welcomed me. 15 interminable days at the limits of endurance. Among the useless objects delivered to me by the waves along the beach, perhaps part of the cargo of my sunken ship, a CD rendered waterproof, and thus intact, by its plastic film. “Song To The Siren” Damon & Naomi 2002 Sub Pop. These writings the only sign of civilization, in a patch of sand, palms, and crustaceans; once a dream vacation, now a nightmare, from enchanted landscape to hostile enemy.
Have you ever truly listened to absolute silence, for days, in the darkness of the night and under the scorching sun? Okay, silence is important, it should be rediscovered, but don't tell that to a sun-baked, burned, emaciated, and above all, music-dependent castaway, they might not understand you.
I don't remember how it happened, but I tried placing the disc on an oval stone, which I took care to turn regularly with my toes, and the claw of a crab served as a needle. Incredibly, it worked. The silence was broken and my body began to secrete intoxicating substances that even the most potent of drugs couldn't match. I was still alive.

Eleven acoustic ballads recorded live in San Sebastián.
Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang, once the backbone of one of the best American Alternative Rock bands, the Galaxy 500, in '91 decided to branch out on their own. The results are, if possible, even more surprising. This album, a live testament of a studio project realized in '01 with Ghost, a fantastic Japanese neo-psychedelic group; attests to the uniqueness of the work accomplished by Damon and Naomi in the '90s. In the tour, unable to rely fully on the Japanese collective, they limited themselves to hiring only the Ghost's guitarist, Kurihara, recently referred to by the Times as the Jimmy Page of the Japanese underground. The album in question fits broadly into the glorious tradition of acoustic concerts for guitar and voice. They take turns singing with the same formidable results of intensity and sweetness, both project leaders. Adding to the value of the work are the bursts of energy from Kurihara, which, perfectly integrating without undermining the duo's balance, launches into long, clean, and dreamy solos. Unmissable.

To be listened to lying under a sky of stars, preferably on a deserted island, where the dream is real and fantasy the only gravitational law, inexpressible in words.